ELL's vs CAT-5 connections

[Donl1150]

I currently am expanding my display from 48 channels to 64 channels.  I am using CTB16PC controllers.  I currently use a pair of ELL’s to get the signal from my PC out to a central point where the controllers are located.  I then daisy chain the 4 together with CAT-5.

I believe I read somewhere that as your display grows with more and more controllers, the ELL’s begin to lag and you wind up with performance issues.  First, is this true?  If so, I assume you then are better off daisy chaining the controllers with CAT-5 cables.  As my channel count increases, I will have to separate the controllers from a central point and consider more ELL's vs. CAT-5 cabling.  That said, what is the max distance that you can have with cables between controllers?

[wbaker4]

LOR runs up to 4000 feet over a decent network cable.

[Mr. P]

Of course you will run into issues, ELLs can't do high speed and the more channels/controllers you add the higher the chance that lag will become an issue if you can't increase the network speed.

I don't think ELLs were created to run your entire network on, they were for the difficult areas where cat5 runs were not feasible. 

[a31ford]

I agree with mrP , a good example would be across a driveway or to the  buddy across the street. Another would be a small show in a business situation where drilling holes for cat5 to exit the building would not be a good idea. Another is a condo or apartment. 

ELLs are a "simple solution" for the basic user, not for an advanced large show.

[plasmadrive]

I ran ELLs for 5 years.  I run 16 almost fully loaded CTB16 and some DMX RGB windows (only two years for the DMX) and I didn't have lag problems at all.  They have their limits, but if you pay attention and don't try to do more than they are capable of, no problem  Very reliable.  Only one failure for me in 5 years and I have 4 total. 

[debtoews]

I run 17 ELL's with 16 houses- no lag at all to the house down the street!

The issue is the total number of channels - 500 ish...so I have 2 networks- one for each side of the street...they work just fine that way...next year we are adding another 16 house on the street behind us and plan to do it with ELL's.